Daily Mail scandalised as GB footballers fail to sing anthem

Scottish women and Welsh men stand stony-faced during God Save the Queen

IT HASN'T taken long for the press to expose cracks in the Great Britain football teams, with non-English players in both the men and women's teams seen failing to sing the national anthem.

The Daily Mail led the charge as it reported that there was "anger" after some of the Scottish and Welsh contingents "refused to sing" God Save the Queen. "Their decisions are likely to cause huge offence to many fans of Team GB," it gasped.

There was also outrage on Twitter where the non-English players were accused of failing to get behind the concept of a united Great British team.

The culprits on Thursday night were Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy, two senior members of Team GB, who are both Welsh. "Not singing the national anthem of Great Britain was bang out of order! They should be honoured to be there!" said one tweeter.

Critics failed to point out that several members of the England team, including Wayne Rooney, often fail to sing the anthem ahead of internationals and, as the Daily Mirror noted, Team GB manager Stuart Pearce confirmed "he had no problem with Giggs and the other Welsh members of his squad opting not to sing God Save the Queen".

Meanwhile the two Welsh veterans were the two best players on the pitch and combined for the GB goal, before Senegal equalised as the match ended 1-1.

The failure of some of the men's team to sing came a day after two Scottish members of the women's team, Ifeoma Dieke and Kim Little, kept their mouths shut before their match. After the game the Mail despatched reporters to find their relatives to demand to know why.

The paper breathlessly reported that "Little's family said the 22-year-old footballer had chosen not to sing the anthem 'because she is Scottish'." The Mail told its scandalised readers that her grandfather - "who is an SNP voter and wants an independent Scotland" - supported her decision.

"The British Olympic Association was said to be furious about her decision," moaned the paper.

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Submitted by Chris Ohio on July 27, 2012 - 1:06pm.

'God save the queen' is the anthem ofengland. Wales and Scotland do not have a queen. As a Welshman living in theUSA for the last few years I have enjoyed the constitutional right of freedomof speech or Not to speak. It is time for Scotland and Wales to have their 1776moment, democratically of course. Those who CHOOSE not to sing the englishanthem have my full support. BTW 'God save the queen', REALLY!!, how archaic,divine right to rule over others is anti-democratic.

Submitted by Dan on July 27, 2012 - 2:40pm.

Never mind about whether it's 'English' or 'British'. Why do you have to be royalist and religious to be proud to be British? Or are you supposed to just be a hypocrite and sign to an anthem just to please others so they can pretend that you believe in these things. This whole thing is a joke, singing the national anthem has nothing to do with how British you are.

Submitted by Janet on July 27, 2012 - 3:33pm.

You've got that totally wrong Chris of Ohio! Queen Elizabeth II is Queen of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland!!! If any Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish players do not want to be part of Great Britain they should have refused their places in the GB Team, they can't have it both ways! They are a disgrace and are taking places of TRUE British players who would have loved to have been included in the GB Team! I will still be cheering on all GB Team members in whatever sport or from whatever of the FOUR countries that make up Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Submitted by Janet on July 27, 2012 - 3:38pm.

How ridiculous are you Dan?! Every country has a national anthem and as Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a Monarchy our anthem is 'God Save the Queen'. It is not a joke to be respectful of your country and to sing your country's anthem.

Submitted by COFIAFI on July 27, 2012 - 5:08pm.

if its union amongst players you want ,why not have the Welsh .Scottish and Irish anthems aswell,or dont we form part of the "UK"

Submitted by James on July 27, 2012 - 6:52pm.

Typical bloody English! They ask the Scots and Welsh to help them with the football and then get upset when the Scots and Welsh dont sing the English anthem. GB is not a nation it is a nation state. It has existed in its current form since 1922. It might change its form again within the next 10 years.

GSTq is the national anthem of ENGLAND. Also, the UK is not a country, it is a state and does not merit a national anthem.

Why should Scots and Welsh be expected to sing a dirge that contains the bellicose anti-Scottish verse -"Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,May by thy mighty aid,Victory bring.May he sedition hush,and like a torrent rush,Rebellious Scots to crush,God save the Queen."

In 2007 Lord Goldsmith suggested this verse be dropped, but her maj declined, so in order to become a UK citizen, you must know it by heart.

The whole thing is also an affront to atheists and republicans, a significant proportion of the population. Maybe this episode will bring things to a head, and an acceptable solution found.

It's 'team GB' - which excludes the Northern Irish, the Manx, anyone from the channel islands - a very badly thought out name if you ask me.

Submitted by Julie on July 27, 2012 - 9:11pm.

'God save the Queen' had a verse recommending the crushing of the rebellious Scots and still contains a verse which once referred to (again) the Scots in derogatory terms. Why would a Celt sing an anthem which advocates the genocide of their culture? We can come together now to represent the whole isle of Great Britain but lets have a new more modern anthem which represents the better aspects of the 4 identities of the country not just the imperialistic past glories of one part of it. The history represented in the anthem is one which shows the true origins of all monarchy, ie the biggest bully in the playground wins, I don't believe this is a good image to be promulgated.

Submitted by Stig on July 28, 2012 - 3:22am.

You really are an idiot. You have that freedom in Scotland AND Wales. No, neither of them need to become their own quasi-corporatist states founded by idiotic free mason slave-owners. Typical American high horse garbage. The Americans have copied all their ideas of law and democracy from the British.

Submitted by Stig on July 28, 2012 - 3:23am.

It is the BRITISH Anthem you idiot, not the English anthem. All countries are "nation states".

Submitted by Stig on July 28, 2012 - 3:25am.

What on Earth are you talking about. The Welsh, Scottish and Irish anthems are the BRITISH NATIONAL ANTHEM. Are you all complete morons in this comments section?

Submitted by Fatweegee on July 28, 2012 - 9:06am.

GSTQ is the National Anthem of England, and typical arrogance made that the default anthem of the UK. Scots don't sing it as it is see as a sign of 'imperialism' by England over Scotland, the verse may be 'officially' removed but the original words contained the words 'Rebellious Scots to crush'. I cant speak for Welsh reasons.

Also Queen Elizabeth II is NOT the Queen of Scotland, Queen Elizabeth is the Queen of Scots. Scots have never been the subjects of thier monarch, the monarch is the first of equals, and to this day sovereignty in Scotland lies with the people not the crown.

Although I am Not a monachist. But do have Welsh bloodf, I totally agree with you. If they do not want to be part of Great Britain,then they should not have been chosen for the Great Britain team. Simple!!

Submitted by David on July 28, 2012 - 11:32am.

But the Scots have an anti-English theme in their Flower of Scotland anthem "And stood against himProud Edward's armyAnd sent him homewardTae think again"

Submitted by Chris Ohio on July 28, 2012 - 3:02pm.

You need to learn 'British' and American history mate! You are sounding like a right fool....

Submitted by Welshman on July 28, 2012 - 6:08pm.

Not Queen of Wales either which is a Principality.

Submitted by ManofCommonSense on July 28, 2012 - 7:11pm.

This is an English problem, exacerbated by English sporting associations such as the RFU and the FA, in not being able to distinguish between being British and being English. If GSTQ was left as the anthem for British events, and Jerusalem (or Land of Hope and Glory) was used as the English anthem, there would be no issue. English is not the same as British. See what anthem was sung AGAINST these players when they last played England at football.

Submitted by ManofCommonSense on July 28, 2012 - 7:18pm.

You spectacularly miss the entire point. There is nothing wrong with GSTQ as England's anthem (although Jerusalem or LOHAG would be better), but it is disastrous as a unifying British anthem when it is simultaneously treated as the English anthem.

Submitted by Radford_NG on July 29, 2012 - 2:44am.

"O Lord Our God arise/Scatter Her enemies/And make them fall/Confound their politics/Frustrate their knavish tricks./On Thee our hopes all fix./God save us all"./...........What's wrong with that?The name of Allah,Jehovah,Krishna,or others,can even be substituted for "O Lord":and it doesnt have to be sung as a dirge;witness the American dance band version in "Mrs.Miniver Goes To War".

Submitted by DaiWales on July 29, 2012 - 3:18pm.

You are the idiot. Wales and Scotland regard GSTQ as the ENGLISH national anthem. The English imposed it on the rest of us without any agreement;When England play any of the other Home COUNTRIES , GSTQ is played for them, while we have our own anthems thank you. It's about time the arrogant English realised that GSTQ is a dirge, and the words are rubbish.

Submitted by DaiWales on July 29, 2012 - 3:26pm.

Rubbish, even the Daily Mail had to admit that 'English' players don't sing GSTQ - which is - and was from the beginning - an English tub-thumping political piece of work, which was foisted on the rest of the UK without agreement. You can be a perfect part of the GB squad without singing that anthem, with its awful lyrics.

Submitted by cymru am byth on July 30, 2012 - 11:30am.

It was only a principality between 1216 and 1542! The iso now recognises wales as a country not a principality

Submitted by cymru am byth on July 30, 2012 - 11:36am.

Yes maybe they do ,but the english aren't expected to sing it are they .

Submitted by David on July 30, 2012 - 11:53am.

Fair point :-)

Submitted by William_Brown on July 31, 2012 - 11:20am.

OK, you may not want to swear allegiance to the queen, so how about Jerusalem as our National Anthem?

After all, GSTQ is a bit of a dirge of a tune and some of the words are not particularly welcoming to tour friends across the northern borders (Rebellious Scots to crush).

Submitted by Pawel on August 4, 2012 - 10:20pm.

Expect Welsh players to sing the UK/English anthem? Maybe it would help if there was a dragon or some representation on th so called British flag.

Submitted by Boris on August 6, 2012 - 8:07pm.

Because it was written when the Scots Catholics had invaded England to put their Pretender on the English throne. Idiot.